Westfield Home for the Supernatural
by ButterflyMiko
Summary: Hitomi attends a school for the magical characters of various worlds. Her brother is Satoshi Hikari. She just got struck on the head by a certain Fullmetal Alchemist's Pocketwatch during his descent.
1. Pocketwatch From the Sky

Hitomi hummed a bit of a tune as she searched for the remainder of her Healing class notes. Her friend Aiko had a habit of using air alchemy to blow her notes out of her reach.

Well, to be fair, this time it was because she had stolen his Alchemy text and well, he needed that for class.

The cold November wind brushed away her ornate pale blue hair and she wondered again if it might snow today. It was cold, although being a koorime (ice demon), this was the sort of weather that felt best to her.

Hitomi Hikari was in appearance, almost otherworldly with good reason. She stood at a full height of four feet ten inches, five inches shorter than her older brother. She was pale, with blue hair and crimson eyes.

Hitomi had the ability to feel others emotions and heal them, and the power to make it cold. She could also make portals between dimensions and make Hiruseki stones.

She seemed a bit rebellious, leaving campus often by herself. Sometimes she caught glimpses of things to come and it was at these times that she wandered off, in search of something unfamiliar.

She was interrupted in her quest for homework by something hard hitting her on the head.

"Well," she said softly. "That certainly isn't snow."

She looked down and saw a small silver pocketwatch.

"Mm?" she hummed the question as she picked it up, turning it over in her hands and examining it. The president's crest…a State Alchemist is wandering around?

Maybe they left some kind of name on the inside, she thought, but it seemed to be sealed using alchemy.

"Huh? Better take it to Aiko and Akemi," Hitomi said, talking to herself again.

She wandered back into the school gate, scanning her ID to get in.

"Hitomi! Where did you go?" Satoshi, her adopted brother, pelted her with questions. "You didn't go out there alone again, did you?"

"There are new arrivals," Hitomi said in the same soft voice, holding out the watch.

Satoshi traced the markings with his finger. "It could be a fake. Or it could really be another alchemist. Either way someone is baiting us."

"Three guesses who," she said, anger casting an edge to her hushed tone.

"Talking about me?" Sakura asked. She smirked at the two, her bright red hair sparkling in the halflight. "I brought some people to meet you. Ed, Al, this is Hitomi Hikari. You can just call her Hikari-imoto."

It was a mocking way of telling Hitomi she believed her to be inferior to Satoshi. She wanted to stir up animosity between the two of them. Her crimson eyes flashed with pure spite. Figured that no one knew exactly what she was.

Hitomi looked pointedly at the Elric brothers. "The protagonists? You know very well what that will do!"

She lunged forward, but Satoshi caught her arms and held her back.

"And you brought their bodies back too," Hitomi spat. "What, so they'll be indebted to you? You make me sick!"

"Do I?" Sakura smiled, releasing the wrists of the two boys. She stepped forward. "If I had a brother, he would love me. Face it. You wish you could control people like this. Hiei-sama would acknowledge you. Your father wouldn't raise a hand against you. But as it is—"

She threw them forward.

Hitomi caught them, her face frozen in a glare that was masking the desire to cry.

"As it is…no one will ever love you," Sakura said, smiling. "You fool."

She turned and walked away.

Hitomi's knees then gave way and she collapsed.

"Hey! Oi! Blue-haired girl!" an annoying voice was close to Hitomi's ear.

She opened her eyes to be hold the visage of Edward Elric. A blush colored her cheeks. "Hitomi…Hitomi's my name, Edo-kun."

I reached into my pocket and pressed the watch into his hands. "I-I didn't hurt it. Or open it. Don't be mad, okay?"

Ed looked startled, but then he smiled. "Come on. Satoshi said that there was food inside."

He took her hand and helped her up. "Al already went in. He's probably starving."

Ed put a hand behind his head in embarrassment. "Guess that's my fault."

Hitomi elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't be like that. All that matters is that in her twisted desire to piss me off, Sakura managed to spare you two a moment or two of happiness. You'll like it here. Hughes and Mustang are actually professors."

Ed turned as they entered the Dining Area. "They are?"

Hitomi nodded. "You'll meet a lot of people you know tomorrow. For now though, let's meet some you don't."

That's when she noticed a mark on his arm. She grabbed him and yanked him into the hallway. She pinned him to the wall, being incredibly strong for her willowy frame.

"Sakura-sama marked you didn't she?" She said viciously. "That bitch! I swear I'm gonna kill her!"

Ed jerked free. "I don't need a girl fighting my battles for me."

He definitely didn't expect what happened next. A small fist collided with his jaw, causing him to double backwards and stumble.

"What the hell? Who taught you to hit like that?" Ed exclaimed.

"Izumi Curtis," she responded. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't fight. And I don't want you protecting me. Sakura's just my problem. I'm not fighting her because she hurt you. She hurt you cuz I'm fighting her."

"T-Teacher?" Ed yelled in surprise. "S-She's—"

"Shh!" Hitomi said, grabbing his arm and pulling the sleeve up to reveal a hand shaped burn mark. "Nn…this is bad—"

Ed grabbed her wrist in one swift motion. "Don't touch it."

He had a fire in his eyes, and it seemed that this look, this glare, was directed at Hitomi's crimson calming gaze.

"What do you intend to do?" she asked him serenely, with a bit of an edge to her voice. "Look at me again. Are you going to make more scars, human?"

He looked at me, and I peeled back the layer of shielding that hid my scars.

He let go of my hand, shuddering.

"Try to be gentle with them…all they want is more violence…" she muttered, pulling back his sleeve again. "Stay calm."

"But my brother, he was hit too!"

"Al is fine," Hitomi said soothingly, pouring Reiki into the wounded area. "If he was able to return to the company of others, he is alright. But you…you've been holding it in, but you were agonizing. There. All better."

"Who are you anyway? Where are we?" Ed asked.

Hitomi smiled. "This is a sanctuary for those of us who are…compromised. We are all from separate worlds. I told you earlier, my name is Hitomi Hikari. Please don't ever call me 'imoto.'"

"I'm Edward," he said. "And my younger brother Alphonse is in the Dining Area."

"Yes," she said. "You're kinda famous here. The Wind and Water Alchemists go here. The Flame Alchemist is a TA, and I believe there are a few more non state alchemists around. Have you seen Nii-san anywhere? He's the one with blue hair."

"I didn't—"

"So you're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Satoshi stepped into view. "You mean she really threw us in danger of another paradox? Does she even know what she's dealing with?"

"No, of course not," Hitomi said flippantly. "She's letting her powers go to her head."

"Why don't they let you handle it?" he asked.

"The board doesn't want a demon's help, Sato-kun," she said quietly, a note of bitterness in her voice.

"Did you just say 'demon'?" Ed asked me. "What exactly are you?"

"Half koorime, half human," I said.

The alchemist looked at me, wide-eyed, then laughed.

"Look at your arm Edward," I said viciously. "No human can heal you that way. And look above you."

He looked up only to be hit in the face with a blizzard. "AAAH!" He shivered. "You didn't have to do that!"

"I'm an ice maiden, strictly speaking," I said. "Come on in, it's fourthmeal, and I'll get you some pumpkin pie and hot cocoa. And I bet everyone is anxious to meet you."

Ed was shivering, but he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that. To be honest, he didn't know if they could trust this Hitomi girl or her brother Satoshi.

They looked like aliens to him, with their blue hair. She might be a demon like she said…but was her brother? They didn't look alike, except for the hair color. He had blue eyes.

"Brother?" Al slid a piece of pumpkin pie to him and a steaming cup of cocoa. "Stop being so suspicious. We're safe here, can't you feel it?"

Ed sighed. "Al…we were already hurt once."

"Hello new arrivals! I'm Mizuki Shiunzuki," a halfway normal looking girl said. She had long brown hair and brown eyes. "You two are from the same time period as me, so I can help you get used to the technology around campus."

Hitomi appeared around the corner. "You guys still hungry? I brought Al some chicken from dinner. Ed did you want more?"

Ed stuck his fork in the pie and ate some of it.

"Edo-kun...I am sorry about her," Hitomi said. "I wish…I should have foreseen it; she's been acting bored for days."

She was looking down and her blue hair was covering her face. The ornate arrangement in her hair was askew from running around in the wind. Ed was shocked to find that she was so upset.

"H-Hey…" he put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Sure it was scary…but you made it stop."

She looked up, smiling a bit. Her smile made her kind of cute…for a demon.

"There you are," a cheerful redhead said. She wasn't anywhere near as scary as Sakura, in fact, her hair was short and nearly pink. "The new arrivals and my wayward best friend. Hi guys, I'm Reiko Minamino. This is my brother, Kurama."

"Let me guess," Ed replied, fork halfway in his mouth. "You guys are demons too."

"Well sort of," Kurama said, trying not to laugh at the annoyed alchemist.

"They are both kitsune," Hitomi said. "Fox demons. Reiko's my best friend. Ane-san, could you tell me next time that bitch tries something like this?"

"Maybe you should have foreseen it," another strange-looking boy said, glaring at her from across the table.

Whoa! Ed thought. Those two look they're trying to kill each other on looks alone!

The boy was barely taller than Hitomi, clad in black and with black pointy hair.

"Hiei-sama…I don't know how to get premonitions like that," Hitomi said.

"Hn…you should stop taking on new projects," Hiei said. "You need to worry more for yourself and stop getting on Sakura's bad side. It's foolish."

"Funny, I didn't know she had a good side," a regular looking boy said. He was the same height as Kurama, while shorter than Reiko. "Hiei, lighten up. Hitomi's not an idiot as far as I can figure, so give her a break."

Reiko laughed. "You tell 'em, Yusuke!"

Hitomi stood. "Ed, Al, I'll go get someone who's in your dorm."

She turned and yelled. "Oi Haru!"

A boy with black and white hair came over. "What?"

"Take them to the Alchemy dorm please," Hitomi said. "Night boys."

Ed and Al then allowed themselves to be escorted out of the dining area.


	2. Seal

"Nii-san," Hitomi whispered. "I'm close. So close to the cure."

Satoshi was lying asleep on the bed. She reached for her iPad.

Satoshi had modified the technology here. That was his main job, and, being a certifiable genius, he was great at it.

Hitomi activated the full-body scanner in the camera and scanned him.

Everything looked good this morning. She took a deep breath, and poured cold healing energy into his body.

Satoshi's body jerked and relaxed. Some of the strain in his features went away.

Hitomi pulled away. For a moment, she looked as though she might cry.

She shook the feelings away. Closing her eyes, she shifted her form from demon to human. Her blue hair was replaced by waist length coal black hair. Her eyes faded to the same color.

She brushed the long black hair back and checked her uniform for creases.

She stepped out of the room just as Satoshi was starting to stir. A look of cold determination was set on her face. She checked the security logs on her iPad.

She walked over to the west gate. "Hughes, how is the border patrol in the Alchemy region?"

"Mustang was just over," Hughes replied. "The only trouble we've had has been with Isuzu Sohma."

"She's a runner, hm?" Hitomi said. "I'll have a talk with her later. We can't maintain safety if she runs off like that, especially in her condition."

"Attention!" Izumi Curtis smacked her fist down on the table. "This is Alchemy Theory, not Social Networking, so PUT AWAY THOSE IPHONES!"

The entire class snapped to attention, switching off their iPhones for fear that they would disrupt class.

Hitomi giggled a little bit.

Izumi loomed over her desk almost immediately. "Stand up, Hikari."

Hitomi changed her look to one of respect. She stood up.

"Draw a transmutation circle, Hikari," Izumi said. "Kukino, you will activate the circle."

Ed was watching this exchange. What was Teacher trying to prove? An alchemist couldn't transmute without knowing what it was they were transmuting. There was no way that Kukino kid could do anything.

Al tapped him. "Brother how is—"

They faced forward quickly at a glare from Izumi.

The Hikari girl drew a circle on the ground, completing it flawlessly. Her friend walked over and attempted to activate it, but nothing happened.

Izumi faced them. "Stand up. Hikari, tell me. Why did nothing happen?"

"Because, Sensei," she responded softly. "Aiko-chan didn't know what he was transmuting."

"Correct," Izumi said. "You may both sit down."

She then launched into a lecture the two brothers had heard many times before. Suddenly he felt a cold palm on his shoulder. "Ed, right? We met yesterday. I'm Sakura. I know you think I'm the bad one here…but here's the thing. I can't help what my powers do, so…friends?"

She grabbed hold of his arm. "Right, Ed?"

Ed flinched, the edge of a flashback taking hold in his mind. He could hear it…his brother Al calling his name, begging him not to let him be taken away.

Sakura released him. "So sad…you really can't protect anyone, can you?"

She turned and left the room, her red hair imprinting on his eyelids. It was then that he noticed the classroom was empty.

"You are Hitomi, right?" Al ran up to her.

"Yes," Hitomi said. "I'm surprised you recognized me. Where's your brother?"

"I can't find him!" Al said. "I thought he was behind me, but when I looked he wasn't there!"

Hitomi's eyes widened. "Was there a redhead in class with us today?"

Al nodded. "She was sitting on the row behind us. I don't know her name, but she did look familiar somehow."

Hitomi grabbed Al's wrist and they ran back to the classroom.

When they got back, Ed was sitting in the dark room.

"Brother!" Al ran to his side.

"H-Hey Al," Ed replied softly, standing up.

"You're hurt, aren't you?" Hitomi said softly. She reached out to heal him, but he shrank away.

"Don't…" he said sharply. "Don't heal me. Please…I-I…"

"Brother what happened?" Al said, looking at Ed's arm. "What's that mark?"

"Please you have to let me—"

"I said no!" Ed yelled, pushing her away.

"You idiot!" Hitomi yelled back. "You shouldn't even be conscious! Are you doing this out of stubbornness, or do you just like pain?"

Ed looked down, his bangs covering his eyes. His fists were clenched, and he was struggling with every fiber of his being not to cry.

"Brother-" Al stopped speaking at a motion from Hitomi.

She paused, then grabbed Ed by the arms and lifted him to his feet. She pulled him away from the desk, and hugged him. "Some of the strongest people I've ever known…have been reduced to no more then broken crying children under her power. There is no need to hold back. There is no one here to judge you…because none of us could do any better."

Ed almost pushed her away, but something in her words rang true. Maybe it was because he could feel her small frame trembling…and her voice was breaking, like she might be about to cry herself.

And so although he stiffened, he eventually relaxed and returned the hug. Once he had, he couldn't stop the tears. He hugged her tighter and let himself cry like a little kid on her shoulder.

Why? Why am I doing this? He wondered. Why do I feel like I can trust her?

He slowly released her, wiping his eyes.

She smiled. "Sometimes a good cry is the best kind of healing. Now come on you two. I need to show you something."

"Why do we have to walk down so many stairs?" Ed complained.

"The stairs ensure that only those who are of exceptional strength can make it to the stronghold," Hitomi answered.

"What do you mean, 'stronghold'?" Al asked.

Hitomi turned to him, her black hair blown back by a strange wind. They had reached a door with five seals on it. "This place houses the most powerful and terrible items in the five dimensions housed here. This place is called Kanashimi no Shindin."

"The Temple of Sorrow," Ed said. "I just realized…what language are we speaking?"

"It is English, the most common language," Hitomi replied. "You still speak Japanese, but it became a second language once you entered this world."

She then pointed to the seals. "These seals keep this world protected and in balance. This is the centerpoint, the location where all of the power of this world is located. Clockwise they are: the Harry Potter World, DN Angel World, Death Note World, Fruits Basket World, Yu Yu Hakesho World, and now…to keep it in balance we need your seal."

Ed ran his hand across the door. "What do you mean? What kind of seal?"

"This seal," Hitomi pulled a piece of paper out. "It's an alchemical seal of power and protection."

"Brother…can you be sure what it does?" Al asked. "It has a lot of symbols I haven't seen before."

"All these symbols were in that book I was reading in class today, the book Teacher assigned," Ed replied, examining the seal.

"Nn…" Hitomi pulled her hair back, tying it off on either side of her head. "One thing, though. I have to help you activate it."

"But…you aren't from our world!" Al exclaimed. "That means you can't do alchemy."

Hitomi nodded. "In theory. However, for a time, I can use my empathy to understand what you understand and see what you see. It won't hurt, and I can't read your thoughts or anything."

"That's still really creepy," Ed said, but drew the seal on the door.

Hitomi and Ed both put their hands on the door, and the seal activated.

"Now step back Ed," Hitomi said. "Hurry, before the whole thing activates."

Ed backed off as all the seals activated. The girl faded into her blue-haired demon form. He blinked. He kinda liked her human form better. It was really…attractive. But even her demon form she wore well.

Her body glowed blue and the seals faded as the door swung open. The Elric brothers walked into a large spacious room. In the center was a containment unit that was empty except for some broken chains.

"What was there?" Ed asked.

"That's where Sakura was imprisoned," Hitomi said, fading into her human form. "She escaped a month before you arrived."

"You chained her in here?" Ed asked, a tone of anger to her voice.

Hitomi turned to them. "Sakura was still developing. Growing, I suppose. She reached full potential and escaped. Somehow she fed off my energy. She was only kept here to grow up…so she wouldn't get hurt, like an unborn child. She's not human after all. But I didn't know she was evil."

"She's evil? How can you know that?" Al asked.

"I'm an empath," Hitomi replied. "And none of her emotions are ever positive. She mostly runs on hatred."

Ed walked around the room, looking at the rest of the items. A Death Note was sitting in a glass case, a bunch of artworks featured around the room, a secret door, and the Black Wings were all some of the things in the room. Hitomi explained them all.

"What's behind the door?" Al asked.

"The door takes you home," replied Hitomi.

"Sakura," Hitomi said, crossing campus near midnight for a security run. "You need to leave the Elric brothers alone."

"Hm…" Sakura said, rushing forward and pinning Hitomi to the wall of the building. "You selfish bitch. This isn't about the brothers. It's about Ed. You created this world to someday meet him."

Hitomi's eyes widened. "I-I didn't…t-that's not true! He didn't need my help! I didn't bring him here, you did!"

"Really?" Sakura said. She swung and punched Hitomi in the face. "You think he'll ever want you? No one does!"

She punched her in the stomach. "Bleed. Die. Suffer. No one can hear you scream. No one's coming to save you."

She relentlessly hit Hitomi over and over, and just as Hitomi felt herself finally passing out, someone dragged Sakura off Hitomi and threw her down on the grass.

"You sick bitch!" it was Ed's voice. "Why the hell do you have to hurt her? She didn't do anything to you!"

"E-Ed…d-don't…" Hitomi slipped to the ground, but clawed the ground at a desperate attempt to get up. "E-Ed sh-she'll hurt you…don't make me w-watch you get hurt again…"

"You foolish boy," Sakura said, getting up. "She already got all broken up. And oh look…you couldn't stop it. It's really all your fault, isn't it. She got hurt defending you."

Hitomi couldn't stop the darkness that closed in on her then, no matter how much she wanted to refute Sakura's statement.


End file.
